Lewis 4/9/04

> Ian Rastall > writes:
>
>> On 9 Apr 2004 02:16:47 -0700, (Nigel at
>> Teacraft) wrote:
>>
>>> http://english.epochtimes.com/news/4-4-8/20869.html
>>
>> Here's a question. There's a quote from the article:
>>
>> "It tastes better the second time it’s brewed; the leaves unfold
>> and don’t sink."
>>
>> It reminds me that my tea always tends to clump at the top of the
>> Chatsford basket, so that I have to stir the water to get it to
>> sink. Is that unrelated, or is it an indicator that the tea is
>> better quality?
>
> I doubt there's any linkage. In my experience, floating vs. sinking
> is characteristic of styles of manufacture and what cultivar is used.
> There are certainly lots of good teas that immediately take up hot
> water and plummet.
>
> /Lew


In point of fact, there might well be linkage, if not with outright
authenticity, than perhaps with quality. I've read that top-of-the-line
Dragon Well teas are composed of a tiny top leaf plus a little bitty bud,
which are flattened and otherwise manipulated in such a way as to cause the
leaf to float in the water with the little bitty bud facing down like a
rudder creating a beautiful display -- or something along those lines.
Curiously, I've seen no such behavior in any DW I've had, which proves
nothing. Perhaps those finest of the fine DW's are for Chinese eyes only. Or
perhaps its all just myth. But, as in so many things tea, *I* believe. When
it comes to DW's, if the leaf is broken, I don't want it. My best DW's have
been from ITC and from Grey and Seddon.

Michael